First Corinthians 6:11 reveals that we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not justification by Christ’s blood in an objective way but subjective justification in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in the organic union with Him through faith. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we are justified subjectively and dispositionally.
Furthermore, according to 1 Corinthians 6:11 we are justified subjectively in the Spirit. Our being justified in the Spirit involves the dispensing of the Spirit into us. The Spirit dispenses His essence into us and thereby justifies us, makes us acceptable to God, dispositionally.
Originally, we were not only sinners but also enemies of God. Enmity is the greatest problem between man and God. Through the redeeming death of Christ, God has justified us, the sinners, and has reconciled us, His enemies, to Himself. We were reconciled to God when we believed in the Lord Jesus. By faith we have received God’s justification and reconciliation by faith.
As believers we have been redeemed by being reconciled to God in the first step. Second Corinthians 5:19 and 20 show that reconciliation has two steps. In verse 19 it is the world that is reconciled to God. In verse 20 it is the believers, who have already been reconciled to God, who are to be reconciled further to Him. This clearly indicates that there are two steps for us to be fully reconciled to God. In the first step we, as sinners, are reconciled to God from sin. For this purpose Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) that they might be forgiven by God. This is the objective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He bore our sins on the cross to be judged by God upon Him for us. The second step is that, as believers living in the natural life, we need to be reconciled to God from the flesh. For this purpose Christ died for us—the persons—that we may live to Him in the resurrection life (2 Cor. 5:14-15). This is the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) to be judged and done away with by God so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him. By these two aspects of His death the Lord Jesus has fully reconciled God’s chosen people to God.
These two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle. The first veil is called the screen (Exo. 26:37, lit.). A sinner was brought to God through the reconciliation of the atoning blood to enter into the Holy Place by passing the screen. This typifies the first step of reconciliation. The second veil (Exo. 26:31-35; Heb. 9:3) still separated him from God, who is in the Holy of Holies. This veil needed to be rent that he might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the second step of reconciliation. Many believers have been reconciled to God in the first step, having passed through the first veil and having entered into the Holy Place. But because they still live in the flesh, they need to pass the second veil, which has been rent already (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20), to enter in through the Holy of Holies to live with God in their spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). This is reconciliation in the second step. Because of the need for believers to have the second step of reconciliation, Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:20, says, “Be reconciled to God.”
The first step of reconciliation was accomplished when we believed in the Lord Jesus. At the time we were forgiven, freed, washed, sanctified, and justified, God reconciled us to Him in position. However, in disposition we are still against God in many ways and in many things. For this reason, we need further reconciliation. In this message we shall be concerned only with being reconciled to God in the first step, leaving the second step for a later message.
As the enemies of God, that is, as sinners in the world, we have been reconciled to God. Romans 5:10a says, “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” Second Corinthians 5:19a says that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” Once we were enemies of God, but we have been reconciled to Him.
We have been reconciled to God in Christ, that is, through Christ. According to 2 Corinthians 5:19a, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Colossians 1:20a, speaking of Christ, says, “Through Him to reconcile all things to Him.” “Through Him” means through Christ as the active instrument through which the reconciliation was processed.